


A Place Among the Stars

by nondeducible



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, alienlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 12:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4263939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nondeducible/pseuds/nondeducible
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you ever miss your home?”</p><p>Sherlock watched Earth move slowly away from them, considering the question. They looked back at John and squinted.</p><p>“I can’t miss a place I’ve never been to,” Sherlock pointed out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Place Among the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kinklock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinklock/gifts).



> A slightly belated birthday gift to my beloved Ashleigh <3 Huge thanks to writemeastoryofsolitude for an express last minute beta job.

The halls and walkways of the ship were quiet. The lights were dimmed and the only sound was the faint humming of the engines. Sherlock clicked impatiently as they strode down the hall. They had looked for John in all the usual places but they had yet to locate him.

Sherlock had considered looking for John by following his scent but that proved fruitless. Wherever he went was some time ago and his scent was too faint to be useful. Sherlock grudgingly resigned themselves to asking the onboard computer for help. They didn’t like talking to her that much, not because he had any problems with asking an AI for assistance, but Molly was always trying to be too helpful and her relentless bubbliness grated on them.

“Molly, locate John,” Sherlock commanded.

“Of course!” Molly replied cheerfully. “John is currently in the hologram suite. Would you like me to relay a message?”

“No, that’s all I needed.” Sherlock strode off in the direction of the hologram suite. They berated themselves for not checking it earlier. They knew John had been spending a lot of his time in there lately.

Within a few minutes Sherlock was at the door of the hologram suite. They raised their hand to open the door but hesitated at the last moment. What if John was using it for personal matters? Was this interruption acceptable according to human manners? Sherlock clicked in frustration and lowered their hand.

“John said you can come in.” Molly’s voice startled Sherlock. “He said he’s surprised it took you this long to find him.” Molly’s voice sounded suspiciously smug.

Sherlock whistled and clicked a rude response to Molly. Not waiting for a reply they opened the door and stepped in.

The room was completely dark, like the endless darkness of space, but for the one bright spot in the middle. As Sherlock got closer, they walked past several planets they recognised to be part of the Solar System. The planets weren’t much bigger than their head, travelling slowly along their own orbits. The Sun, dimmed as not to damage eyes, shone warmly in the middle.

John’s face was illuminated by the Sun’s glow. He stood a little to the side, in the path of the orbit of Earth. When Earth approached him he held out his arms, as if to hug it, and the hologram stopped in front of his chest.

John smiled down at the miniature Earth in front of him and cradled it in his hands, his face full of fondness and longing.

“You miss it,” Sherlock stated. “You miss home.”

John looked up from Earth and smiled at Sherlock sadly.

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “Life back there was pretty rough, but it was home.”

Sherlock walked up to John and peered down at the small planet between them. Patches of blue, green, white and brown on a spherical planet, the origin of humanity and John Watson.

“In the greater scale of the universe, Earth is insignificant,” Sherlock remarked, running their hand carefully over the surface of the planet. John snorted in response.

“In the greater scale of the universe everything is insignificant.” John stepped out of the path of Earth and started the hologram again. The Sun rotated slowly in the middle, the rest of the planets following its pace. “Do you ever miss your home?”

Sherlock watched Earth move slowly away from them, considering the question. They looked back at John and squinted.

“I can’t miss a place I’ve never been to,” Sherlock pointed out.

“Well, about that,” John replied with a grin and took out a control pad from his pocket. He quickly typed in a few commands and the hologram around them shifted. The sun and the planets disappeared, the darkness receded, and was replaced by an explosion of bright colours. In the middle of a nebula, two stars orbited each other, a white giant and a smaller red giant. Caught between them was a lone planet, covered in shades of green and blue.

Sherlock whirred in surprise and wonder. They looked back at John, both pairs of their eyes wide and shining. Patches of blue and green glowed high on their cheekbones.

“How?” they asked simply.

“I picked up some junk parts at the last port we were in,” John explained with a small smile. “I think they belonged to a survey ship because there were loads of data logs about— well, it doesn’t matter really but I found something about your planet. From before— from before. When it was there.”

Sherlock circled the binary star system, clicking and whistling to themselves. They were emitting excited noises, waving their hands around, eyes taking in every minute detail. John watched on with a fond smile.

“I know it’s not perfect, there’s still loads missing, but it’s the closest I could do.” John gestured to the planet. “It’s yours now. You can finish it.”

Within seconds John found himself enveloped in a tight hug, both pairs of Sherlock’s arms wrapped around him, and Sherlock whirring and purring in his ear. John returned the embrace just as tightly.

Sherlock rested their forehead against John’s, letting their emotions and thoughts flow freely between them. John felt the excitement, the wonder, the immense gratitude, and above all the overwhelming love. Sherlock kept whirring and purring but John didn’t need to speak their language to know what they were saying.

His own thoughts were simple. _I love you too_.

 

 


End file.
